2-phenylacetophenone derivatives represented by the after-mentioned formula (I) are disclosed, for example, in JP-A-5-279312, JP-A-4-270248 and Japanese Patent No. 2,805,255, and they can be produced by conventional methods and also by the methods disclosed in these publications. However, by these production methods, it has been difficult to produce the derivatives depending upon the types of the substituents X, Y and R or the positions to be substituted, or they can be produced only by a complicated production process involving many reaction steps. Further, a process proposed to solve such problems as disclosed in JP-A-2000-229903, employs an expensive transition metal catalyst, and in an industrial operation, the catalyst is required to be recovered and reused.
Compounds similar to the compounds represented by the after-mentioned (II) as the precursors for the production of 2-phenylacetophenone derivatives of the present invention are disclosed, for example, in J. Org. Chem. 2000, 65, 6398-6411, JP-A-60-13730, JP-A-60-13759, JP-A-2-13963 and JP-A-11-510163, but the compounds represented by the formula (II) are not disclosed.